"118: Gate of Truth, Philosopher’s Stone"

"What?"

"There's even that kind of possibility?!"

It was only then that the Su Mo from the DanMachi and Index worlds realized the full implications. That's right! As users of Takeover magic who could transform into Pokémon themselves, they were intimately familiar with the structure of Pokémon bodies. If they truly mastered the art of creation, they could literally create real Pokémon within their own worlds.

"If I could create a Pikachu and have it face off against Misaka Mikoto…" Su Mo from the Index world stroked his chin, finding the thought extremely amusing. A showdown between "Pika Pika" and "Biri Biri" sounded far too entertaining.

"If I could create a Chansey, I could open my own clinic!" the DanMachi Su Mo added excitedly. While Pokémon might not be as powerful as Su Mo himself, their diverse skillsets offered many practical uses. If he could create Chanseys or Blisseys—Pokémon specialized in healing—he could easily establish a medical facility to aid adventurers in Orario. Such a clinic would no doubt be wildly popular. He could practically make money in his sleep!

Hearing these wild ideas, the Genshin Su Mo couldn't help but chuckle. "Aren't you two forgetting that the Su Mo from the Pokémon world is already out capturing legendary Pokémon? If his plan succeeds, we might even be able to create the legendary birds—or perhaps even Rayquaza someday! And it doesn't stop with Pokémon. We could even recreate creatures from my world, like the Anemo Hypostasis, the Cryo Regisvine, or even Stormterror himself."

Alchemy, after all, was a power that could transform knowledge directly into reality. If they could truly master the art of creating life, they could introduce creatures from entirely different worlds into their own. While these creatures might not match Su Mo's personal strength, creating them in large enough numbers could give rise to entire armies of Pokémon or even legions of legendary beasts. Such forces would certainly prove useful, even for someone as powerful as Su Mo.

"If I can one day defeat Acnologia and fully analyze his body structure," the Fairy Tail Su Mo added, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "then maybe we could each have our own Black Dragon. That would be unbelievably cool."

After entertaining their shared fantasies, the Su Mos from Fairy Tail, Index, DanMachi, and Fullmetal Alchemist all placed their hands on the Genshin Su Mo's shoulders in unison. "Good luck! We're counting on you for this one!" "The organization has great faith in you, so give it your all!" "And if necessary, don't hesitate to seduce Sucrose—we'll forgive you for the greater good!"

Faced with their absurd encouragement, the Genshin Su Mo sighed helplessly. "I can handle the task, but seducing Sucrose is definitely off the table! Don't think I won't notice you trying to sneak that in!"

"Don't sweat the details!" the Fairy Tail Su Mo said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Wait a minute!" The Index Su Mo suddenly remembered something important. "Compared to biological transmutation, isn't there something even more valuable in the Fullmetal Alchemist world?" His eyes burned as he turned to the Su Mo from the Fullmetal world. "The Gate of Truth! That's the ultimate source of knowledge!"

In the Fullmetal Alchemist world, those who committed the forbidden act of human transmutation were able to glimpse their own Gate of Truth. From that point onward, they could perform alchemy with nothing but a clap of their hands, without the need for a transmutation circle. More importantly, the Gate of Truth contained infinite knowledge—the very principles of the universe itself. Although it didn't include knowledge from parallel worlds, it did house the entirety of the user's world's knowledge. This endless fountain of wisdom could be tapped in exchange for an appropriate price.

Edward Elric, the protagonist of that world, had become a state alchemist at such a young age precisely because he had once glimpsed part of this truth. When the Gate had taken part of his body during his childhood transmutation attempt, it had also bestowed upon him vast knowledge. As long as one could pay the price, even greater knowledge could be acquired. For both mages and alchemists, the Gate of Truth was an unimaginably valuable treasure—an opportunity beyond comparison. In the Fullmetal world, it was practically standard for those who had seen the Gate.

The Index Su Mo didn't know the Gate's upper limits, but he was certain that its potential rivaled world-level power. Even Father—the Homunculus behind the scenes—had managed to open Heaven's Eye and Earth's Gate by sacrificing an entire nation's population, gaining godlike power. He could even create miniature suns with his bare hands—though that was only a limited version. Without the interference of the protagonists, Father's plan might have succeeded entirely. With just a portion of knowledge, he had already obtained such incredible power. If one could go even further, perhaps power equal to the Magic Gods could be within reach.

At least from the Index Su Mo's perspective, the Gate of Truth was a shortcut to a much higher realm of power—far more valuable than even Pokémon. In his mind, this was the Fullmetal world's greatest, most irresistible treasure.

Hearing this, the Fullmetal Su Mo spread his hands with a helpless expression. "I understand what you're saying, but the problem is that to gain enough knowledge, one must pay an equivalent price. And for the Gate of Truth, that price is the Philosopher's Stone. Unless you expect me to create a nationwide transmutation circle and sacrifice millions to forge a stone, there's no way to acquire that much knowledge."

The Gate's knowledge came at a terrible cost. The Philosopher's Stone was made from human souls, and Su Mo, no matter how insane he might be, could never bring himself to sacrifice millions or billions of people.

"Yeah, that's true…" The Index Su Mo's enthusiasm was immediately dampened, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him. The Gate's knowledge was far from free, and acquiring it without paying an unbearable price was far too dangerous. He had no intention of gambling with something like that.

Still, he wasn't ready to give up entirely. "If we could acquire enough Philosopher's Stones, we could trade them for corresponding amounts of knowledge." He paused in thought. "But how can we get enough Philosopher's Stones?"

At this point, the DanMachi Su Mo leaned in and added, "Actually, in my world, someone did manage to create a Philosopher's Stone once. But on the very day it was completed, it was destroyed due to one of the gods' pranks. Since then, no one's succeeded in replicating it."

Although he had chosen [Mixing] as his development ability, Su Mo knew that even if he trained for decades, it might still take him half a lifetime to reach the skill level required to produce a Philosopher's Stone. And by then, he might not even need it anymore.

"What a shame," the Index Su Mo sighed in disappointment. "Even if we could recreate that one Philosopher's Stone, it wouldn't be nearly enough for the amount of knowledge we're after."

Right now, Su Mo already possessed power on par with that of a god. But to advance even further, the amount of knowledge he required could not be obtained with just a handful of Philosopher's Stones. Even if the DanMachi world had some Philosopher's Stones lying around, it wouldn't make much difference.

At that moment, Su Mo from the Fairy Tail world suddenly noticed a crucial detail. "Hold on!" he said, turning to Su Mo from the DanMachi world. "Your Orario's Familia wouldn't resort to using human souls to create Philosopher's Stones, would they?"

"Of course not," the DanMachi world's Su Mo replied immediately, shaking his head. "That's something the gods absolutely forbid. Even if some alchemist secretly tried using human souls, they would never dare present the stone to the gods. With the gods' sharp eyes, they'd instantly recognize if it was made using human souls. And besides, if word ever got out that human souls were involved, the other gods would never sit idly by."

He quickly shut down Fairy Tail Su Mo's suspicion. But hearing this actually made Fairy Tail Su Mo even more excited. "Based on what you're describing, the Philosopher's Stone seems to function the same way. So if in your world the Philosopher's Stone can be created without using human souls, maybe we can also find a method to synthesize them without sacrificing humans. If we succeed, we might even be able to mass-produce Philosopher's Stones!"